Helmet for My Pillow is a gripping memoir that transports readers to the frontlines of World War II through the eyes of Robert Leckie, a young Marine who fought in some of the most brutal battles of the Pacific Theater. With raw honesty and vivid prose, Leckie recounts his experiences from boot camp to the bloody battles of Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu, offering a deeply personal perspective on the sacrifices, camaraderie, and horrors of war. This powerful narrative serves as a testament to the courage and resilience of the men who fought and died in the Pacific, making it an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the realities of combat and the human cost of war.

"Barry Blake of the Flying Fortress" by Gaylord Du Bois is a gripping wartime tale that soars through the skies of World War II. Du Bois' narrative takes readers on a high-stakes journey alongside Barry Blake and his comrades aboard the Flying Fortress. With vivid descriptions and heart-pounding action, this book immerses readers in the challenges and courage of bomber crews during the war. It's a must-read for aviation enthusiasts and those interested in the heroic stories of the Greatest Generation.

This authorized biography of World War II hero John Basilone--who held off 3,000 Japanese troops after his unit was reduced to three men--is being published to coincide with Steven Spielberg's HBO miniseries, "The Pacific." Illustrations throughout.

Penguin delivers you to the front lines of The Pacific Theater with the real-life stories behind the HBO miniseries. Former Marine and Pacific War veteran Robert Leckie tells the story of the invasion of Okinawa, the closing battle of World War II. Leckie is a skilled military historian, mixing battle strategy and analysis with portraits of the men who fought on both sides to give the reader a complete account of the invasion. Lasting 83 days and surpassing D-Day in both troops and material used, the Battle of Okinawa was a decisive victory for the Allies, and a huge blow to Japan. In this stirring and readable account, Leckie provides a complete picture of the battle and its context in the larger war.

Includes over 220 photos, maps and plans following Robert “Lucky” Leckie’s Pacific War with the 1st Marine Division “Here is one of the most riveting first-person accounts ever to come out of World War II. Robert Leckie enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 1942, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In Helmet for My Pillow we follow his odyssey, from basic training on Parris Island, South Carolina, all the way to the raging battles in the Pacific, where some of the war’s fiercest fighting took place. Recounting his service with the 1st Marine Division and the brutal action on Guadalcanal, New Britain, and Peleliu, Leckie spares no detail of the horrors and sacrifices of war, painting an unvarnished portrait of how real warriors are made, fight, and often die in the defense of their country. From the live-for-today rowdiness of marines on leave to the terrors of jungle warfare against an enemy determined to fight to the last man, Leckie describes what war is really like when victory can only be measured inch by bloody inch. Woven throughout are Leckie’s hard-won, eloquent, and thoroughly unsentimental meditations on the meaning of war and why we fight. Unparalleled in its immediacy and accuracy, Helmet for My Pillow will leave no reader untouched. This is a book that brings you as close to the mud, the blood, and the experience of war as it is safe to come.”-Print Ed.

Anthony Swofford's Jarhead is the first Gulf War memoir by a frontline infantry marine, and it is a searing, unforgettable narrative. When the marines -- or "jarheads," as they call themselves -- were sent in 1990 to Saudi Arabia to fight the Iraqis, Swofford was there, with a hundred-pound pack on his shoulders and a sniper's rifle in his hands. It was one misery upon another. He lived in sand for six months, his girlfriend back home betrayed him for a scrawny hotel clerk, he was punished by boredom and fear, he considered suicide, he pulled a gun on one of his fellow marines, and he was shot at by both Iraqis and Americans. At the end of the war, Swofford hiked for miles through a landscape of incinerated Iraqi soldiers and later was nearly killed in a booby-trapped Iraqi bunker. Swofford weaves this experience of war with vivid accounts of boot camp (which included physical abuse by his drill instructor), reflections on the mythos of the marines, and remembrances of battles with lovers and family. As engagement with the Iraqis draws closer, he is forced to consider what it is to be an American, a soldier, a son of a soldier, and a man. Unlike the real-time print and television coverage of the Gulf War, which was highly scripted by the Pentagon, Swofford's account subverts the conventional wisdom that U.S. military interventions are now merely surgical insertions of superior forces that result in few American casualties. Jarhead insists we remember the Americans who are in fact wounded or killed, the fields of smoking enemy corpses left behind, and the continuing difficulty that American soldiers have reentering civilian life. A harrowing yet inspiring portrait of a tormented consciousness struggling for inner peace, Jarhead will elbow for room on that short shelf of American war classics that includes Philip Caputo's A Rumor of War and Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, and be admired not only for the raw beauty of its prose but also for the depth of its pained heart.

A personal story of learning to trust our heavenly Father when you feel your earthly father has let you down. Blair Linne’s personal story of growing up without a father at home reflects the experiences of millions. She weaves her personal story with thoughtful theological reflection, inviting readers to learn from God what "father" really means and to trust him, even if they feel their earthly father has let them down. This book will help readers to shift their eyes from what they do not have in their earthly fathers (who, whether present or absent, loving or the opposite, can never be perfect) to what they do have in their eternal Father, who will never disappoint, reject or abandon them. Readers will see that the gospel promises not just forgiveness but also a place in God's family, experienced in a local church, where they can enjoy the fullness of his fatherly joy, care, wisdom, provision, protection and security. Also includes a chapter by Blair’s husband, the Christian hip-hop artist Shai, on his own story of fatherlessness and faith.